EU lays out sanctions package over Russian recognition of Ukraine’s separatist regions

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - The heads of the European Commission and European Council on Tuesday condemned Moscow’s recognition of Ukraine’s separatist regions and revealed details of a new sanctions package against Russia.

“The decision of the Russian Federation to recognize as independent entities and send Russian troops to certain areas of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts is illegal and unacceptable,” Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel said in a joint statement.

They pointed out that Russian actions violate international law and further escalate the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

The leaders said that EU foreign affairs ministers will discuss on Tuesday afternoon the first part of the bloc’s sanctions package and will officially adopt measures in the shortest delay.

They revealed that the EU sanctions package would target those involved in recognition of separatist regions of Ukraine and banks financing military operations in those areas.

In addition to that, the bloc would restrict the Russian state’s access to EU capital and financial markets and services, and ban trade from separatist regions.

Von der Leyen and Michel reaffirmed the EU’s “full solidarity with Ukraine” and support for its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Moscow’s recognition of the regions in a speech on Monday in which he also attacked Ukraine’s government and the US and accused the West of ignoring Moscow's core security concerns.

Along with Russia’s military buildup, tensions have recently risen dramatically in eastern Ukraine, with reports of a growing number of cease-fire violations, multiple shelling incidents, and the evacuation of civilians from the pro-Russian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The US and its European allies have said that Russia is setting the stage to invade Ukraine after having amassed over 100,000 troops and heavy equipment in and around its neighbor.

Russia has denied that it is preparing to invade and instead accuses Western countries of undermining its security through NATO’s expansion toward its borders.

In 2014, Moscow began supporting separatist forces in eastern Ukraine against the central government, a policy that it has maintained since then. The conflict has taken more than 13,000 lives, according to the UN.